1. Fundamentals of
nd
Game Design, 2 Edition
by Ernest Adams
Chapter 1: Games and Video Games

2. Objectives
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Know the essential elements of a game—
rules, goals, play, and pretending—and what
they do in the context of playing games
Know the formal definition of a game
Understand the nature of challenges and
actions, as well as the formal definition of
gameplay
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3. Objectives (Cont.)
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Become familiar with the concepts of
symmetry and asymmetry, fairness, and
competition and cooperation
Learn the various benefits that computers
bring to games
Become familiar with the ways in which video
games entertain people
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4. What Is a Game?
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Toys do not have rules or goals
Puzzles have goals
Games have rules and goals
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5. What Is a Game? (Cont.)
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A game must include
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Play activity
Pretended reality
A nontrivial goal
Rules
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6. Essential Elements of a Game
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Play
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Play requires participation
Making different choices while playing the game a
second time affects the results
Pretending
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Creates an artificial reality known as the magic
circle
Artificial importance is assigned to events within
the magic circle
To leave the magic circle, stop playing the game
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7. Essential Elements of a Game
(Cont.)
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Goal
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Every game must have a nontrivial goal or object
The rules define the goal
The game designer sets the rules, thus defining
the object of the game
The player must overcome one or more
challenges to achieve the goal

The goal is often a victory condition, but victory or defeat
is not required in all games
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8. Essential Elements of a Game
(Cont.)

Rules
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Rules are definitions and instructions that players
accept for the game
Rules define the actions the players may select
that will help them achieve the object of the game
Game designers must make the rules
understandable to the player
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9. Things That a Game Is Not
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A game does not have to include
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Competition
Conflict
Entertainment
Fun
These are qualities of some games, but not
essential to the definition
Serious games are not necessarily made for
entertainment or fun
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10. Gameplay
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The player must overcome a nontrivial
challenge
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Challenges require mental or physical effort
A challenge can be composed of several smaller
challenges
Challenges can be required to reach the goal
or optional to add game content
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11. Gameplay (Cont.)
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The rules determine what actions are
available to the player(s)
Different actions may be
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Permitted by the rules, or
Required by the rules, or
Prohibited by the rules
Video games permit only actions that are
programmed into the game
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12. Gameplay (Cont.)
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Gameplay therefore consists of:
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The challenges that a player must face to arrive at
the object of the game, and
The actions that the player is permitted to take to
address those challenges plus other possible
actions that are enjoyable
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13. Fairness
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Players expect that the rules will guarantee
that the game is fair
Fairness is not an essential element of a
game, but a quality of good games
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Players often change rules of a game if they
perceive it as unfair
Fairness is particularly important in video games
because video games seldom allow rule changes
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14. Symmetry and Asymmetry
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In a symmetric game, all players use the
same rules to accomplish the same goal
In an asymmetric game, different players
follow different rules to accomplish different
goals
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15. Competition and Cooperation
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When players compete, they try to
accomplish mutually exclusive goals
When players cooperate, they work together
to accomplish goals that are the same or
similar
Competition modes are ways to build
cooperation and competition into games
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16. Hiding the Rules
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Video games do not require written rules
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The game enforces the rules
The player can’t change the rules
Provide adequate clues for players to
overcome a challenge
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Using trial and error to overcome a challenge
frustrates many players
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17. Setting the Pace
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The software determines the speed of the
events in a game
The player can’t affect the speed of the game
unless the software has to wait for player
input
The computer allows for modulation of the
pace, so players can rest between periods of
intense activity
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18. Presenting a Game World
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To present a game world, video games can
use
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Pictures
Animation
Movies
Music
Dialog
Sound effects
Text and subtitles
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19. Artificial Intelligence
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Today, artificial intelligence is used for
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Strategy
Pathfinding
Simulating the behavior of people and creatures
As artificial intelligence advances, games will
add more uses for it
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Natural language parsing
Natural language generation
Pattern recognition
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20. Aesthetics
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All game elements should be high in quality
and present a harmonious look and feel
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The look includes the quality and appearance of
the graphics, movie clips, animation, buttons, and
fonts
The feel includes the music, dialog, user interface,
and objectives
Harmony is the feeling that all game
elements are part of a coherent whole
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21. Storytelling
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Most games incorporate some kind of story
Video games can mix storylike and gamelike
entertainment almost seamlessly
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They can make player feel he is inside a story and
affecting flow of events
This is one reason why video games are
considered a new medium
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22. Risks and Rewards
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Risk is created by uncertainty
If the player overcomes the risk, a reward
should be given
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The size of the reward should match the size of
the risk
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23. Novelty and Learning
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Video games can offer more variety and
content than any traditional game
Novelty alone is not enough to sustain player
interest, however
People enjoy learning when it takes place in
an enjoyable context or provides useful
mastery
Games should supply both enjoyable context
and useful mastery
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24. Creative and Expressive Play
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People love to select, design, and customize
This activity can have a direct effect on
gameplay
As video games reach a wider audience,
creative and expressive play become
increasingly important
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25. Immersion
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Immersed players lose track of the real world
outside the game
Immersion can be
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Tactical—the sense of being “in the groove”
Strategic—observing, calculating, planning
Narrative—the feeling of being inside a story
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26. Socializing
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Most traditional games are played with other
people, making it a social activity
Several methods allow people to play video
games together
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Multiplayer local
Networked play (multiplayer distributed)
LAN parties
Group play
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27. Summary
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You should now understand
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The elements of a game
The interaction of challenges and actions
The role of the computer in video games
The various ways that games entertain
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